Next summer six families will move into brand new homes they helped build in Oxnard's neighborhood of La Colonia.

But the celebration of the six-home Habitat for Humanity project begins Saturday. Officials have invited the community to join the selected families in a groundbreaking ceremony at 9 a.m. at the project site, 125 N. Hayes Avenue.

The two- and three-bedroom homes are affordable units, costing the families less than $250,000.

The $1.8 million project has been subsidized through partnerships with agencies like Gold Coast Health Plan, which donated $75,000 for the project. The grant is part of a Community Health Investments program that supports improvements to health care access, food security and neighborhood environments.

A housing nonprofit such as Habitat for Humanity may not be a traditional partner for health care agencies but that is starting to change, said Dale Villani, chief executive officer of Gold Coast Health Plan, a public agency serving Ventura County Medi-Cal members.

"There's a fair number of homeless people in Ventura County and many of them are actual members of Gold Coast Health Plan," Villani said. "We like our members to have safe and healthy homes to live in."

Villani said there are many factors in determining a person's health and they include a healthy living environment.

"Health care is really looking at the whole person," he said.

The health plan grant, totaling $1.5 million, was awarded to 16 local organizations including FOOD Share, Brain Injury Center of Ventura County and Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project. There were 23 groups that applied for the grant.

"We were very pleased to see a company with the presence of Gold Coast clearly making that link between investing in the health of a family to improving the community over time," Dwyer said.

The La Colonia project also received support from the city of Oxnard, Department of Housing and Urban Development, St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church, West Coast Air Conditioning, Ventura County Community Development Corporation and Ventura County Housing Trust Fund.

Meathead Movers, with locations in Ventura County, has made Inc. Magazine’s Honor Roll for the sixth year in a row.

Company is on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.

“As we continue to expand and grow, it’s important that we stay focused on our core values,” said Aaron Steed, CEO. “We want our brand to reflect our dedication to our customers and our employees. We look forward to the next 20 years of providing exceptional moving services in California and beyond, and we’re so humbled to be included on the Inc. 5000 list again in 2017.”Story by: VC Star

A California Chamber of Commerce-opposed bill that imposes a cost to contractors with county contracts and subjects contractor and subcontractor employees’ private information to Public Records Act requests has been held in a Senate fiscal committee pending review of the bill’s financial impact on the state budget.

The CalChamber-led coalition is opposed to AB 1250 (Jones-Sawyer; D-South Los Angeles) because the bill seeks to severely limit options for county agencies to determine the most appropriate solution to providing efficient and effective public service by establishing significant and costly obstacles for agencies and for vendors contracting for personal services.

Must Justify ContractsAB 1250 imposes not only onerous requirements on counties in order to justify the need for contracting out personal services, but also imposes costs on contractors. The bill requires the agency to conduct an audit of the contract to determine if anticipated cost savings of the contract have been realized. The contractors would be required to reimburse the agency for the cost of the analysis, and would be prohibited from factoring the cost of the audit into the contract costs, thereby imposing a fee on the contractor. If the onerous process for these agencies to follow when seeking to contract for personal services does not discourage the agency from attempting the process, the cost to the contractors will discourage many from engaging.

AB 1250 requires the contractor, on a monthly basis, to furnish the names and hourly rates of all contractor and subcontractor employees, as well as any independent contractor’s names and compensation. This private information would be provided to anyone who makes a request, per the Public Records Act. The public release of private information could be damaging to the individuals whose contact information is exposed. It is unclear why providing this personal information benefits the public.

Counties have a long history of addressing service delivery challenges with creativity, self-reliance and innovation in partnership with the private sector. Limited budgets create further challenges to local governments that can sometimes be addressed through using outside vendors to provide services. By establishing near-insurmountable barriers to contracting, AB 1250 seeks to eliminate even the consideration of contracting as a tool to meet the needs of these agencies. By limiting their choices, AB 1250 limits the options that counties rely upon to provide public services, and stay within their means.

If in fact a county makes it to this point and determines that contracting out these services has merit, there may not be any contractors to bid on these contracts because of the costs associated with reimbursing the contracting agencies for the required audit. AB 1250 will in effect leave agencies with limited choice, or lacking the ability to maintain and provide needed services altogether.

Department of Finance OpposedDuring the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on August 21, the state Department of Finance (DOF) announced that it opposes the bill because AB 1250 “would create unknown, but likely significant General Fund costs to the state.”

The DOF opposition rationale also aligns with the CalChamber-led coalition’s concerns about increased costs from AB 1250.

Action NeededSeptember 1 is the deadline for all bills to be sent to the Senate and Assembly floors. CalChamber urges members to contact their senator and member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and recommend they oppose AB 1250 and hold the bill in the appropriations committee.

The City of Oxnard will continue to hold sign-up opportunities for the utility rate assistance program "Project Assist" on August 23 & 24 and is determined to reach income-qualified customers. The program offers low-income residents a $10 monthly discount toward residents’ trash, sewer, and water utility bills.

To qualify, customers must be participants in Southern California Edison or Southern California Gas Company’s CARE program. Oxnard residents will be notified of approval in the first week of September and program enrollment begins within 30 days of acceptance. Funds are limited and acceptance is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Currently, city staff has signed-up, reviewed, and approved 158 participants in the program that officially started on July 1st.

To submit a program application, residents are invited to attend one of two August community sign-up events, where city staff will accept applications. To complete an application on site, residents must bring a copy of a valid driver’s license or most recent utility bill, and a copy of an Edison or SoCal Gas bill showing proof of CARE program eligibility, and sign the application. Applications will also be available online at ﻿www.oxnard.org/project-assist﻿.

Major Expansion and Modernization Projects at St. John’s Regional Medical Center

St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC), a Dignity Health hospital, is proud to announce a new modernization and expansion project that will transform our campus into the hospital of the future. As part of our ongoing mission to provide the latest medical technologies and world-class services for generations to come, these significant developments will dramatically enhance our capacity to meet the future health needs of patients and their families.

"The modernization and expansion project contributes significant benefits to Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo," said Darren W. Lee, President and CEO of St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo. "These new additions to our hospital further support our mission to provide high-quality health care services to all. St. John’s Regional Medical Center proudly brings the best of 21st century health care to the Oxnard community with these exciting advancements." We look forward to inviting media and community members to monumental groundbreaking celebrations and blessings starting this fall. Installation of some new equipment and completion of some of the new procedures already began. The two-year project scheduled for completion by April 2019 includes:

Patient Access Additions • Enlarged private patient discharge in the back of the hospital for convenience and discretion • Separate entrance that directly leads to Labor & Delivery and the NICU to allow expectant women to bypass the emergency room and receive immediate attention

Labor and Delivery Program Modernization • Four upgraded Labor & Delivery rooms with contemporary features such as tubs for water births, birthing balls and a bright, cheerful decor • New private and semi-private triage rooms for a relaxing, family-oriented admitting process • Comfortable and tastefully decorated all-new waiting rooms for family and visitors

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Expansion • Current large group monitoring rooms will be built out into an entire unit of twenty private NICU rooms with room for mom, dad or a guest and sophisticated nurse monitoring capabilities • Family lounge with kitchenette and shower for those wishing to remain near our tiniest patients as much as possible while they remain in our care

Building a Neuroscience Center of Excellence • World class neurosurgery suite with capability to perform brain clot removal, aneurysm repairs, carotid artery stenting, advanced brain and neck tumor removal • Siemens biplane angiography machine to remove brain clots, stop intracranial hemorrhages, and fix blood vessel damage in the brain, accessed with minimal invasion through the groin in a similar method as Cath Lab procedures • Powerful new Pantero microscope for use with intraoperative fluorescence technology during neurosurgeries will be the only one in Ventura County

Center for Cardiovascular Health • Investing in new technologies and procedures to remain a national leader in cardiac care with our award-winning heart health services (sutureless aortic valve replacement, chronic total occlusion removal from coronary arteries, embolectomies for large clots, TAVR) • First in the county to implant a leadless pacemaker and perform cryoablation for AFib • Establishing a structural heart disease program and conducting cardiac stem cell research

Click here for a flyer promoting the Modernization and Expansion Project at Dignity Health St. John’s Regional Medical Center.

About Dignity Health St. John’s Regional Medical Center St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard is a recipient of the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence and rated among America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care by Healthgrades. St. John’s Regional is a member of Dignity Health Central Coast, an integrated network of top quality hospitals, with physicians from the most prestigious medical schools, and comprehensive outpatient services - all recognized for quality, safety and service. Hospitals in the Dignity Health Central Coast region include Arroyo Grande Community Hospital in Arroyo Grande, French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria and St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo. Each hospital is supported by a philanthropic Foundation to help meet the growing health care needs of our communities. Learn more at dignityhealth.org/stjohnsregional